Apocalypto ( 3 of 5)

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Written by: Donald Haas
Parent Category: Journal
Category: Movies
Despite Mel’s recent drunken anti-Semitic rant’¦ although most reports ignore the Sweet Tits line (which is my favorite) ..I still dig the guy. He’s Martin Riggs for god’s sake’¦ he’s William Wallace!!’¦it’s going to take a lot to knock him off my mantle. While I thought Passion of the Christ was basically a snuff film’¦it was really well done narratively, historically and visually. I was expecting more of the same for Apocalypto’¦.and was rewarded. It is a ‘˜shit hits the fan’™ type of film’¦.Pursuit of Happyness’¦ Mad Max’¦ King Lear’¦etc’¦.but this little fish in the big pond plot is more interesting since this pond is new territory on film, and WE are the big fish in the end. It’s all an adventure of one man versus one culture’¦ but in the end neither is important as the watchers of the film’s ancestors wiped them out long ago. There is a lot of subtext in the first hour’¦A civilization of true-believers turning on itself’¦ ghettos are for the lazy’¦and don’t rub strange stuff on your genitals. But all that is thrown out the window in the second hour as the film morphs into a wild jungle chase film. Mostly ‘˜Predator-like’™’¦but still engrossing all the way through. Quick note’¦this not for the squeamish’¦4 live hearts get removed’¦arrows and spears in uncomfortable places’¦and more dead bodies than ‘˜Killing Fields’™ and’™ Full Metal Jacket’™ combined. The subtitles were only a problem when someone is telling a story’¦the rest of the time the great acting flushed out the intent without even reading the words below. The Lead is very good’¦but Raoul Trujillo’s Zero Wolf, leader of the Mayan Slave Hunters, was a highlight for sure. Zero Wolf was the most civilized and the most barbaric all in one. Not a true believer but surely a military leader in a later life, A bad guy you gotta love.

Mel shot the film in HD’¦and while the lush jungle is Lush and the deep vistas are vista like’¦the action is very MiniDV. The motion blur gets irritating’¦and kind of takes you out of the moment by being too technological. Super 70 would have made this film phenomenal’¦but the budget vs. returns would have been in ‘˜Heavens Gate’™ territory. A feather in the cap for Mel’¦.but it’s not ‘˜The Passion’™ or ‘˜Braveheart’™’¦.just good storytelling with dash of history’¦.think ‘˜The Patriot’™’¦in underwear.